November 14, 2024

Dear reader,

I’ve always had a thing for hotels and motels—especially the side-of-the-highway motor inns with signs still advertising cable TV as a perk. Growing up, we didn’t really travel unless it involved staying with family, so a trip to a hotel was pretty special.

Let me take you back in time to my first-ever hotel stay. The year: 1989. The place: the Holiday Inn on Grand Island, New York. I was the weird kid excited to fold her clothes and put them neatly away in the drawers like I lived there now. After a long day of outlet-mall shopping, we grabbed dinner from a place called Wing King and brought it back to our room, where my aunt—“pretending” to be tipsy—removed the shade from one of the bedside lamps, put it on her head and danced around with my mom while my cousins and I jumped on the beds. There was no going back after all that—I was officially hotel-obsessed. And that’s not even taking into account the joy of vending and ice machines and a free breakfast buffet with a DIY waffle maker. Note: this was also my first time eating buffalo wings, so talk about your collision of milestones.

As I got older, I realized hotels had something else going for them: the bars—nameless, nondescript watering holes you would never go to if they weren’t 20 paces and maybe a short elevator ride away. Weird, in-between places where all of the patrons are from somewhere else and probably won’t be there tomorrow or ever again. I love them and their comforting shroud of anonymity, but they aren’t typically pretty. None of this applies to Toronto’s new brand of lobby bar, though. The bars at our city’s hotels aren’t just meant for tourists passing through; they’re stunning lounges meant to attract repeat customers—people who actually live here. And instead of bottled beer and communal peanuts, they offer things like lychee-elderflower martinis, freshly shucked oysters and Wagyu dumplings. In today’s edition of Table Talk, you’ll get a peek inside three of these shiny new spots.

Also in this week’s newsletter, a tasty roundup of Toronto takes on baked Alaska, the classic ice cream dessert that plays with fire. Plus, a shout-out to chef Matty Matheson, all of the plant-based comfort food on the menu at Stefano’s Diner, and a look inside TV personality Jason Skrobar’s home kitchen.

For more of our food-and-drink coverage, visit torontolife.com or subscribe to our print edition.

—Rebecca Fleming, food and drink editor

These aren’t your fun uncle’s lobby bars where the draught lines are dirty, the barkeep is crotchety and the carpet’s dizzying pattern is meant to hide all manner of spills. These are gorgeous cocktail lounges you’ll want to visit even if you’re not staying in the hotels they’re attached to. Here, a peek inside Nobu Bar, Lano and Muse.

Desserts don’t get more dramatic than baked Alaska. It’s a mound of ice cream on a cake base, covered in meringue that’s torched, then set on fire. It’s a lesson in delicious chemistry—and it’s making a comeback. Here, seven Toronto takes on the so-cool-it’s-hot ice cream cake.

It should come as no surprise that Matty Matheson has once again made it onto our annual list of the city’s most influential people. Matheson contains multitudes: he’s a chef, a restaurateur, a cookbook author, a TV producer, a writer, an actor, a launcher of food products and a stealer of hearts. Read more about him—and the 49 other very important people who made this year’s ranking—here.

What started as a pandemic-times plant-based sandwich pop-up is now a brick-and-mortar restaurant with an expanded meatless menu. Stefano’s Diner, from the team behind Michelin-recommended Gia’s, serves up vegan comfort food including mozzarella sticks, lasagna and (of course) sandwiches.

Speaking of sandwiches, Jason Skrobar loves them so much, he wrote a cookbook aptly titled The Book of Sandwiches. But the author, food stylist and TV personality stocks his home kitchen with a lot more than just sandwich staples—like frozen pizza, a collection of sprinkles and penis-shaped pasta. Take a look around.

In the latest issue: the tech titans, political heavyweights, culture crusaders, business big guns and everyone else who matters now. Plus, the stars of the Toronto Sceptres, a Q&A with the legendary Vince Carter, the ultimate holiday gift guide and more. Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today.

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